{"id":7879,"date":"2015-11-17T08:11:43","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T08:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/passkit.com\/blog\/?p=7879"},"modified":"2024-10-14T18:35:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T18:35:50","slug":"how-to-use-eddystone-url-and-what-is-meant-by-no-need-for-an-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/passkit.com\/blog\/how-to-use-eddystone-url-and-what-is-meant-by-no-need-for-an-app\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use Eddystone-URL and what is meant by \u201cno need for an app\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eddystone, specifically Eddystone-URL, has given BLE broadcast signals and proximity marketing a whole new meaning. But with this new technology comes a learning curve. Many people have began to wonder what exactly is the Physical Web and how will everything be just \u201ca tap away<\/a>\u201d and how do people not \u201chave to download an app first.<\/a>\u201d I\u2019m going to cover what exactly Google and other developers mean when they say there’s \u201cno need for an app\u201d and how people can enable the Physical Web on their smartphone device.<\/p>\n

\"Eddystone-URL<\/a>
Eddystone-URL signals can be received a number of different ways. I’m going to teach you how to enable your phone to receive them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How is iBeacon different from Eddystone<\/h3>\n

iBeacon<\/a> is Apple\u2019s implementation of Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) wireless technology. iBeacon allows Mobile Apps to listen for signals from beacons and react accordingly. AltBeacon<\/a> works the same way.
\nBeacons using the iBeacon and AltBeacon specification have to rely on an app of some sort to trigger an action. This means that in order to be able to notify a customer or send them content and information, you will need to develop that capability into an app, which your customer then needs to have installed on their device. This makes implementation much more difficult and much more costly.<\/p>\n

This is where Eddystone-URL comes into play<\/h4>\n

Eddystone-URL is a beacon broadcast format that sends out a URL to a user\u2019s device. This beacon signal can be picked up by either the Physical Web app, or the Google Chrome Widget, which appears in your notifications tab in iOS.
\nSo now, anybody running one of these on their phone is eligible to receive an Eddystone BLE signal from a beacon. And although it sounds like you\u2019re still using an \u201capp\u201d (Google Chrome\u00a0or the Physical Web app), it\u2019s not a specific app you have to download for one in-store or brand experience. It\u2019s an app that you most likely use already for a number of other functions,\u00a0plus it will let you access any Eddystone BLE Beacon. It\u2019s a value add on to a browser app that already does a bunch of amazing things. If you are not using it already, you soon will be. And that\u2019s part of the advantage.
\nOnce one business shows\u00a0a user how to enable their Google Chrome Widget\u00a0or download the Physical Web app, every business broadcasting Eddystone-URL signals can benefit from that. Whereas with iBeacon and AltBeacon, businesses had to build their own app, and convince every single one of their customers to download it. Which is an incredibly expensive and near impossible task.
\nIn simple terms:<\/strong>
\nBEFORE:<\/strong> BLE Beacons required a specific app. Each brand, store, event, or experience would build their own app to interact with their own BLE Beacons \u2013 to offer an experience.<\/em>
\nAFTER:<\/strong> Eddystone BLE Beacons work with the existing Google Chrome Widget or the Physical Web App. You don\u2019t need to build your own.<\/em>
\nThis allows for businesses to participate in proximity based customer engagement without having their own app. This also allows businesses to give the customer an amazing experience without having to force them to download a new app. So Eddystone BLE Beacons gives anybody the ability to use\u00a0beacons and give customers the ultimate experience.<\/p>\n

Using Eddystone-URL<\/h3>\n

First, I\u2019ll show you a video of how Eddystone-URL looks and how you can enable it, then I\u2019ll explain below.
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